Dispenser for dispensing pressurized contents from a container



Dec. 13, 1960 H PE F. DISPENSER FOR DISPENSING PRESSURIZED CONTENTS FROMA CONTAINER Filed May 15, 1958 FHA NK INVENTOR.,,

H. A PEL DISPENSER FOR DISPENSING PRESSURIZED i CONTENTS. FROM CACONTAINERUJ' Theinvention relatesrto valve, dispenseraandzcontainer.sunits which are ,designedtor the. dispensing of anaenated. liquid.content from, containers in which..the;liquid1prod 1o uct is pressurizedfor dispensing. A commonillustrationar. of such a product isaeratedwhipped cream;

An object. of the ,presentinventionisto providefa-..va1ve 220 of thecharacterdescribed which is constructed of a mini-:1: mum, number. ofsimply formed and inexpensive,partseoq, functioning in a most direct'andbighlyaeflective mannerze to provide. ;a.' particularly 1 safe and;foolproof adispensing valve mechanism.;,,

Another. object of theipresent. invention. isto provide-Ea: valvemechanismof the character above-which willafiord easy and precise'controlof the dischargegof the aerated; product; and will sealeffectively even undenlowppressurere and. whereinv the :several parts iare designedand: .dimen.-.:,; sioned to limit theimaxirnumrate ofdischargea; q,

A furtherobject of the present invention is to provide .1 a valvemechanism of thecharacter above whichsiscomez pactand light in weight,and designed-, for easy ne-hands. operation and wherein the .discharge.;orifi ce is disposed.; close to the topswall-of the container forcomplete..self.-,.: draiuageof the contents.

Stil1anot h er object vof the present invention is to provide a valvestructure of the charactenabove which mayi-be... easily kept andmaintainedin a .cleamand sanitarycondie. A0 tion and afiords readyvisual inspection .andeasy. replaeee ment of the singlewearablepartwhereby thevalve mechh anismmayibe keptjngood.operatingcondition ovenan s indefinitely long and useful life.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage,.ome,ofwhich, with the vforegoi ng,,-.will be set forth in thefollowingdescriptiomof the preferred form of the invention which isillustrated in the drawings accompanyingand forming .part of thespecification.'- It is-tobe .llnderstood, however,.that variationssinthelshowing detby thesaid drawings and description may be adopted withinthe scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section of a pressure containerequipped with a dispensing valve mechanism constructed in accordancewith the present invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale of the valve.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the valve similar to Figure 2 butshowing the valve in open position.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the valve body.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the valve body partly in section.

The valve mechanism of the present invention is, as above noted,particularly designed for the dispensing of pressurized contents from acontainer 6 and consists briefly of a valve body 7 adapted for sealedmounting in and extending through a wall 8 of the container and beingformed with an annular groove 9 and a normally interior side 11 of thewall 8, the body 7 being formed with a discharge passage 12 extendingfrom the groove 9 to the ice normally. exteriorkside .13 .of the'nbody;an 50-rings14i6f soft. lcompressiblezrnaterial such .as .naturalnor:syntheticl rubber. mountedein ggroove t 9 in sealing: relation across 1passageg12;;andnmanua1ly :disp-laceable -means 16 :move-- able; in .theipassage ;to engage andsdisplaceto-ring list-to M an -.unsealed:positionwithrespect to passage 12. Preferably; thez-groove 9. is formedain ashoulder 17 -:-projectingz from thenorrnally interior-side; 18 of thebody the' shoulder 17;here ibeingzformedzas a central or axial extensionof the. body ;and .thev groove 9 being .tormeddn the exterior:

periphery-of the shoulder. directly at the under-side- 18 of thebody soas to provide good1drainagecharacteristics as above noted; The meanslfimay -consistlsimplyof an H actuating.stem.mounted tor:reciprocationoin passage 12 with the interior end 19 of the stenrinengagement with a the O-ring. 14v fordisplacement of the lattenaway fromits normal sealed position across the passage uponmanual depressingofthe stem to eliect an opening-of thelvalve as depictedin Figure 3.

Anothersfeatureof the .foregoing construction lies in the factathatthedepressing of thedispensing stem v16 moves the stem. intosthe dispensingorifice .21 defined by the joinder of passage 12 .and gro,ove 9.tothuslimihthe size.

of this orificevduringtthe. dispensing operation. AlSOJSlIlCe themaximum-rate..of discharge regardless .of howhard thestemis depressedconsidering normalzmanually applied force to the stem.

The" present valve construction thus provides; a soft action and ,easyand-precise control of thefrate of.di'scharge of the pressurizedcontents. TheO-ring 14"shou'ld have a normal. dimension..snugly fittingthegroove 9 soas to I constantly coverand sealthe discharge orifice 21evenat lowpressures. As willbe further observed the O-ring may bereadily. slipped off fromthe lower end '17 "of the valve" body forcleaning, inspection and lreplacement. "when then-ring; is removed,thei'whole ofitheconnectingpas sagewayportions 12,21, and .9. arereadily visible 'for' inspection;cleaning and straight'through brushingaction in the case of passage 12 whichis of importance'where" thehandling of a toodproduct such as cream-is involved.

Also cooperating in a desired expansionflovv' of the discharged productsis :thepre'cise :forming of the'lbore 12 and thetadjacentstemfifiuAsi-here shown;' passage 1'2 is of tapered'zfornrrdiverging outwardlyfrom the discharge orificefll to the'outer side :'13 of thebodyi;iAlsodhestem 16 is: formed :with :a recess: 22 adjacent ---itsinner rend =19 and which cooperates with the passage 12 to provide animmediate expansion of the contents pouring past the open O-ring andinto the tapered bore 12.

The valve body 7 also projects externally of wall 8 to provide acylindrical shoulder or head portion 23 which is used to support adetachable dispenser nozzle 24. The latter may be of more or lessconventional form as generally illustrated in Patent No. 2,699,890 andis desirably moulded from plastic or rubber of hollow tubular form so asto provide a tubular base portion 26 and an angularly extending nozzleportion 27. As here shown, the tubular base portion 26 is dimensionedfor detachably mounting on the external end or head portion 23 of thebody for supporting the dispenser nozzle on the container. If desired,and as here shown, the base of the nozzle may be formed with an internalflange 28, which is dimensioned for snapping into and out of an externalgroove 29 formed in the head 23. The stem 16 is here carried by thenozzle and is mounted for reciprocation through an opening 31 in a wallportion 32 of the nozzle aligned with the open central axis of flange 28so that Patented Dec. 13, 1960 the stem 16 will be supported inalignment with and for reciprocal engagement in passage 12 forengagement with the O-ring as above described.

The head 23 is also dimensioned to fit a chuck (not shown) used incharging the container with gas. During the charging operation the stem16 is not in place and accordingly the entering gas passes directlythrough the tapered bore 12 and past the O-ring 14 and into thecontainer. In practice it is frequently desirable to charge thecontainer in stages so as to increase the total gas absorption by theliquid to be aerated. With other types of sealing valves heretoforeused, an outward spray of cream or other contents takes place at each ofthe several charging stages. This outward spray is effectivelyeliminated in the present design. Also due to the absence of the stem 16during charging, gas may be let into the container at a relatively highrate of flow to thusreduce fill time to a minimum.

Mounting of the valve body in the container wall 8 may be convenientlyeffected by the provision of an enlarged flange 33 on the body having anedge rim 34 engageable against the underside 11 of container wall 8. Theflange 33 may be readily resistance welded to the wall 11 by theapplication of pressure and electricity causing the edge rim 34 to fuseinto a continuous weld bead 36 as depicted in Figures 2 and 3.

In the construction here illustrated, shoulder 17 and groove 9 areconcentrically arranged and passage 12 is eccentrically arranged so thatthe lower end of the bore 12 will properly intersect the groove 9 in thedischarge orifice 21. The alternate construction providing the sameresult would be to form the shoulder 17 and groove 9 eccentric to theaxis of the valve body and form the bore 12 concentric, or bore 12 maybe slant-drilled so as to provide the proper intersection of the lowerend of the bore with the O-ring groove.

The container 6 here illustrated is formed of a twopiece constructionincluding a container body 41 having integral side and bottom walls withthe side wall terminating in an open top rim 42 formed with an annulargroove or socket in which is mounted an -ring 43 of rubber or other softcompressible material. The outer periphery of O-ring 43 overhangs theside wall so as to slidably engage the inside surface of a dependingskirt 44 formed on a detachable cap section 46. The valve body 7 is heremounted in the top wall of the cap section.

The cap section 46 is retained on the can body by a bayonet connectioncomposed of a plurality of circumferentially spaced pins 47 on the sideWall of the body and which engage in bayonet guideways 48 formed byembossments in the skirt 44. The internal pressure in the containerfunctions to constantly urge the O-ring into sealed engagement with theopposed surfaces of the body and cap sections. and easy attachment anddetachment of the sections for filling and cleaning and a simplepositive seal between the parts when in attached position. The specificconstruction of the container is being covered in a separateapplication.

I claim:

1. A dispenser for dispensing pressurized contents from a containercomprising, a valve body adapted for sealed mounting in and extendingthrough a wall of said container and being formed with a shoulderprojecting from the normally interior side of said body, said shoulderbeing formed with an external annulargroove, said body being formed witha discharge passage extending from said groove to the normally exteriorside of said body, an O-ring mounted in said groove in sealing relationacross said passage, and a manually displaceable actuating stern mountedfor reciprocation in said passage for engagement of one end of said stemwith said O-ring to displace the latter away from its normal sealedposition across said passage.

2. A dispenser as characterized in claim 1 wherein said passage is oftapered form diverging outwardly from said groove and said stern isformed with a recess adjacent its said end cooperating with said passageto provide an expansion chamber for the released pressurized contents.

3. A dispenser for dispensing pressurized contents from a containercomprising a valve body adapted for sealed mounting in and extendingthrough a wall of said container and having a middle portion and twoends projecting from the external and internal sides of said wall, theexternal end of said valve body being substantially en- 'larged withrespect to said middle portion, the internal end of said body beingformed with an external annular groove, said body being formed with adischarge passage extending from said groove to said external end, anO-ring mounted in said groove in sealing relation across said passage, aresilient dispenser nozzle having a tubular base portion formed with aninwardly-directed resilient flange and detachably snap-fitted over. theenlarged external end of said valve body with said resilient flangeengaging the middle portion thereof, and a manually engageable actuatingstem carried by said nozzle and being mounted for reciprocation in saidpassage for engagement of the internal end of said stem with said O-ringto displace the latter away from its normal sealed position across saidpassage.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,429,003 Trapet Oct. I4, 1947 2,699,890 Appel et al. Jan. 18, 19552,772,035 Collins et al. Nov. 27, 1956 The construction thus affordsquick

